PETALING JAYA: Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) doubles coaching director Rexy Mainaky is confident the national men's doubles shuttlers will rediscover their chemistry when they reunite with their regular partners for the World Championships in New Delhi.
Aaron Chia will reunite with Soh Wooi Yik, while Man Wei Chong will return alongside Tee Kai Wun.
Wan Arif Wan Junaidi will also resume his partnership with Yap Roy King.
Most of them are currently competing at the Korean Masters in Asan and will have less than a week to train together before leaving for New Delhi for the World Championships from Aug 17-23.
The short preparation period, however, is not a major concern for Rexy as the players have already spent considerable time with their respective partners.
For Rexy, the priority will be getting them back into rhythm and fine-tuning their combinations before the tournament begins.
"We're not worried because they have played together for a long time. It's not as though they only started playing together last week," said Rexy.
"What we need to work on now is getting them back into the right rhythm when they return to their regular partners. That's our main focus at the moment.''
Former world No. 1 pair Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani will also compete at the World Championships.
The national men's doubles set-up is currently undergoing a reshuffle, with the coaches experimenting with several scratch combinations until the end of the year as they search for the best partnerships heading towards the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
Aaron was initially paired with Kai Wun but is now playing alongside Aaron Tai, with the combination already showing promise by finishing runners-up at the Taiwan Open.
Wei Chong is currently partnering Wooi Yik, while Kai Wun is playing with Roy King and Arif with Kang Khai Xing.
Rexy also sees no need to remind his players about the challenging conditions that could await them in New Delhi, believing they are experienced enough to handle the situation.
Several players criticised conditions at the India Open in January, which was held at the Indira Gandhi Stadium, the same venue that will host the World Championships.
Among the issues raised were bird droppings around the venue, monkeys entering the stadium and New Delhi's poor air quality.
"The players are all quite experienced. I haven't been there for a long time myself, with my last visit coming in 1993.
"But looking at the situation now, it seems things are still the same, especially the air quality. So we just have to know how to take care of ourselves. The players are experienced when it comes to dealing with these things," added Rexy.
